The Phish song with the flexible expletive, this hilarious creation belongs to the versatile young mind of Mr. Michael Gordon. The tune appears on The White Tape, and is a curious nugget of wailing coprolalia. Mike plays all of the instruments and supplies the angry rocker-boy vocals as well, singing meanly about forcing his screaming guitar to painfully fornicate with the poor, unsuspecting listener’s facial area. For over twenty-three years, it remained a (relatively obscure) part the band’s past… lurking near the bottom of the Phish tar pits somewhere between “Dear Mrs. Reagan” and “Lushington,” keeping close company with “Anarchy” and “Revolution.” 

As if to prove that no Phish song is ever truly dead (especially a song as intrinsically tenacious as "Fuck Your Face"), Phish resurrected this relic on 7/2/10 after 23 years and 1,412 shows in hiding, by a good margin the longest gap ever between live performances of a Phish song.

"Fuck Your Face" – 7/2/10, Charlotte, NC

"FYF" entered semi-regular rotation after the bust-out, again stiffening at the regular Phish haunt of Alpine Valley on 8/14/10 (appearing on the Alpine Valley 2010 DVD/CD combo) as well as opening the second set on 10/19/10 in Augusta, ME, subsequently weaving its way in-and-out of a powerful "Mike's Song."

The only known performance of the tune prior to 2010 took place on 4/29/87 at Nectar's, a point that was in some dispute among fans until recently. The sound quality on the only circulating recording is different from the rest of the show, leading some to believe the song was performed at a different gig and added to the 4/29/87 tape as filler. However, when Phish officially released it's setlist file in 2010, Kevin Shapiro and his team asserted that "Fuck Your Face" was indeed the encore to 4/29/87 and was simply cut in to the circulating tape out of order in the first set (likely explaining the difference in sound quality with the taper simply changing levels mid-show).

Regardless of the exact details of the debut performance, it's somehow reassuring to know that two generations of fans have now been subjected to this truly wonderful, face-fucking aural monstrosity.

"Fuck Your Face" – 8/14/10, East Troy, WI, from the Alpine Valley 2010 DVD/CD

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